All Quiet on the Western Front

All Quiet on the Western Front follows Paul Bäumer and his classmates, who eagerly enlist in the Imperial German Army after their teacher stirrings their patriotic fervor. The reality that greets them in the trenches is nothing like the heroic tales they were told. As the war grinds on, Paul watches his friends die one by one, and he becomes increasingly disconnected from the civilian world that sent him there. What began as a sense of purpose dissolves into pure survival. The conflict that was supposed to mean something becomes an exercise in endurance, and Paul can no longer remember what he was fighting for. First published in 1928 and banned by the Nazis, Remarque's masterpiece remains the most devastating anti-war novel ever written. It has lost none of its power to haunt. This is the book you hand to anyone who believes war is noble or necessary. Written by a veteran who survived the trenches, it speaks with an authority that no amount of research can replicate.